M1 crash deaths: Lorry driver in custody after court appearance

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Eight minibus passengers died in the crash with two lorries on the southbound M1 at Newport Pagnell

A lorry driver charged over a crash on the M1 motorway which killed eight people has been remanded in custody after appearing in court.

Two lorries and a minibus crashed near Newport Pagnell on Saturday.

Ryszard Masierak, 31, is charged with eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving and four of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

A second lorry driver charged in connection with the crash will appear in court next month.

Mr Masierak, a Polish national of Barnards Close, Evesham, Worcestershire, is also charged with causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed alcohol limit.

Image copyrightLNP

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The road was closed for several hours for recovery work to take place

The crash happened on the southbound carriageway of the M1 near junction 14 at Newport Pagnell at 03:15 BST on Saturday.

The other lorry driver, David Wagstaff, 53, of Derwent Street, Stoke-on-Trent, has also been charged over the crash.

Mr Wagstaff is accused of eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving and four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and is due to appear at Milton Keynes Magistrates’ Court on 11 September.

Six men and two women died when the three vehicles collided shortly before 03:15 BST on the southbound carriageway of the motorway between junctions 15 and 14.

A five-year-old girl, a man and a woman were left with life-threatening injuries and remain in hospital. Another person was admitted to hospital with less severe injuries.

The minibus driver and owner of Nottingham-based ABC Travels, who was killed in the crash, has been named as Cyriac Joseph.

He has been described in tributes as an “extraordinary father” and a “great leader” within the south Indian community in Nottingham.

Mr Joseph had been taking a group of people from India to London, from where they were due to start a tour of Europe.

Three other fatalities have been named as employees of IT company Wipro.

The firm said Karthikeyan Ramasubramaniyam Pugalur, Rishi Rajeev Kumar and Vivek Bhaskaran all died in the crash, while another employee was critically injured.